Alabama Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan, right, talks to Mike Tate of Tate Farms during a visit to Huntsville last month. (The Huntsville Times/Michael Mercier)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Alabama Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan said Congress' approval of free trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama allows the state to move ahead in developing relationships with those nations that will lead to "substantial exports of Alabama agriculture products and the creation of thousands of good jobs."

McMillan traveled to Huntsville and four other cities last month to support ratification of the trade agreements, saying that every $1 billion in export trade means 15,000 jobs for Alabamians, and 15 percent of all Alabama manufacturing sector workers depend on exports for their jobs.

"Alabama farmers and agribusinesses have looked forward to this day when the products and commodities they produce will be able to compete on a level playing field where our quality and reliability will win out," McMillan said in a release.

McMillan said during his visit here last month that $2.67 billion in merchandise was exported from Alabama's 5th Congressional District area last year.

Anne Burkett, director of Planning & Economic Development with the Madison County Commission and executive director of the North Alabama International Trade Association, believes the agreements will open up more opportunities for businesses in the agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors to be more competitive overseas.

Under the agreements approved by Congress Wednesday night, some tariffs will be eliminated immediately, while others will be phased out over a period of time as outlined in each of the pacts. They also take steps to better protect intellectual property and improve access for American investors in those countries.

The agreement with South Korea, Burkett said, is the biggest U.S. trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in January 1994.

The administration has said the agreements could increase exports by $13 billion and support tens of thousands of American jobs. The House and Senate votes weren't close, despite opposition from labor groups and other critics of free trade agreements who say they result in job losses and ignore labor rights problems in the partner countries.

The House also passed and sent to President Barack Obama for his signature a bill to extend aid to workers displaced by foreign competition. Obama had demanded that the worker aid bill be part of the trade package.